School Gardens, Thunder Bay

Food Inc...

2012-02-06T10:49:00.000-05:00

I've just watched Food Inc again. What a fascinating observation of today's society. The documentary takes us along the industrial food chain from food lot to slaughter house to Monsanto and how our food has changed over the years.

I've long been a proponent of local food and spent many happy Saturdays at local farmers markets and seeking out local food vendors. The idea of the industrial farm scares me more and more, particularly when I watch such powerful films as Food Inc. Every year, we hear of more and more massive food scares and I daily receive updates from the FDA on food recalls in the USA. We live in a frightening time. Obesity is on the rise and there is a huge public health issue that travels along with this. How can we stop this?

Food Inc suggests that the industrial farm is a HUGE problem, along with the big industrial food companies. I bet, if you walk around the supermarket and look at all the pre-packaged, snack foods and tinned goods, along with the shrink-wrapped meat, you'll find the names of but a few companies. Sad, when you think that many of the smaller producers have been swallowed up by these big companies, even sadder when you consider what it might take for these few companies to have problems with their factories or transportation systems. What would be the outcome of all this? Food shortages in North America and Europe?

I have been thinking about these things for many years now. The cost of oil seems to be growing and growing. Food is getting more and more expensive, especially the cost of good, nutritious food. Fresh, nutritious food seems to be more expensive than the mass produced stuff, which to me is even scarier.

All this tells me that it makes more and more sense to grow your own food. Talk to the local farmers and see what they can offer us, vote with our wallets at supermarkets and demand more locally grown produce. I'm going to be starting a neighbourhood gardening project in the Sault this year, which has many in the community excited for the possibilities of cheap and fresh produce for their kids this Summer.

Oh Boy...

2011-10-05T17:14:00.000-04:00

well... it might be fall in Canada, but I am trying now to figure out how I can start some community gardens in the neighbourhood where I work. I've totally forgotton about the blog for the most part and am very sorry about this. Hope the information I posted earlier this year is still of benefit for my readers and I will try and post more as and when I find it. In the meantime, if there are any Sooites who have information about starting community gardens, please can you contact me

thanks

Back to School

2011-09-04T20:52:00.001-04:00

September winds are blowing in Sault ste Marie and the children go back to school this week. I can't believe the Summer is almost gone. I've heard several geese heading south and seen some trees changing colours already.With back to school, brings much that is new for those starting school and for those who are heading to their senior years are high school.

We've spent our summer getting to know our new district, a staycation, if that's what you like to call it. We've been working on our new garden and planning for the next summers planting.

I hope all those schools who began their gardens this Summer have had much success and are able to share that success with other schools. This is a growing movement in more ways than one.

School Meals

2011-08-08T21:30:00.001-04:00

I grew up in the UK, eating the nasty school meals of the 1980's, hating every moment of it. Jamie Oliver, British chef extraordinaire, has in recent years, been trying to revolutionize school meals, first across the UK and now in the USA. Thinking about this, I have begun to realise just how important it is for children to have access to healthy food during their school day.

It seems in Ontario, there is no school meal policy. Children at elementary school have to bring their own meals to school in order to eat. There is of course, limited funding for emergency food to give to children with no lunches. This seems though to be diminishing. What kind of government condones children learning at school with little or no access to hot lunches? Many children attend school without having breakfast. Schools rely on outside charities to provide breakfast programs.

I personally think its so sad that there is little money to provide access to healthy meals to children. Without good food, children cannot be active learners. With so much pressure on children to perform, without access to healthy food, children will have difficulty living up to all the expectations upon them. Access to healthy food should be a right. It is a preventative measure, to ensure children grow up healthy and strong. Surely prevention is a good thing?

School meals could also be part of a school garden program. The children could grow the food as part of a school garden program. Being able to grow their food in a garden and then eat it, teaches children so much about being a part of their environment. That connection has been lost in this modern, consumer society. Food is an integral part of our society. Without healthy food, children will grow up sick and obese. What kind of world will it be if we don't stop and think about our children's future?

: Gardening as a Spiritual Practice

2011-08-03T20:52:00.000-04:00

Spirituality & Practice: Map: Gardening as a Spiritual Practice

Just found these books. Haven't read them yet, I must admit, however, I think its a subject that needs to be thought about when out in the garden. I personally find being in the garden and outdoors at the local parks or in the countryside very spiritual. Its a time when you can be one with creation and enjoy fresh air and the trees swaying in the wind. I know from watching my children, how being in the countryside helps them to relax and rejuvenate.

Hiawatha Highlands

2011-07-22T16:51:00.000-04:00

I've just enjoyed a wonderful visit to the Hiawatha Highlands near Sault Ste Marie. Its a total gem of a park and great escape for those of us who live in the city.Pity I didn't bring the camera as we found the waterfall today. Its an easy climb on boardwalk( Some steps are missing). We also walked around the lake at the bottom of the hill and were lucky enough to spot a turtle. The pines smelled wonderful and the peace was enjoyed by all!

Meatless Mondays

2011-07-22T12:49:00.000-04:00

Meatless Monday | one day a week, cut out meat

I've been a vegetarian for about 15 years now. Living in Canada, I find this quite hard as Canadians seem to me to be a people who love their meat, just look out west to the beef production! I found this website that has recipes that can help you adopt a vegetarian meal once per week. You never know, you may enjoy it enough to become a vegetarian like me!

Ontario Horticultural Association: Online Newsletter

2011-07-20T10:40:00.000-04:00

Ontario Horticultural Association: Online Newsletter

More school garden ideas! Check it out

School Is Out... Now What?

2011-07-17T20:26:00.000-04:00

Sara Winter: School Is Out... Now What?

Interesting article about how to connect to your children during school vacation! Its a LONG and hot summer. Enjoy being outside with your children!

Must read books on education...

2011-07-17T14:19:00.000-04:00

7 Must-Read Books on Education | Brain Pickings

Among this list is the book," The Element" by Sir Ken Robinson. He has fast become a guru on education for me. I am by no means an educator. I tried that once during my first undergraduate degree, teaching English in Germany. I was a disaster, but that is a whole other story. Learning about school gardens also brought me to a new understanding about education, one that Ken Robinson teaches, that not all children learn the same, that schools do not do a good job of teaching anything but Reading, Writing and Arithmetic ( But that would also depend on who you talk to) and don't, on the whole teach children to reach their potential in today's world.

School gardens have the magic of becoming a haven for learners who don't do well with the modern curriculum or the traditional ways of teaching that are espoused by schools today. There are many different ways to learn and its sad that schools can't help all children reach their potential to do well in the modern world. As I've said before, there is NOTHING a student cannot learn from being in a garden.

Now I have to confess, I haven't read any of the other books on the list, but hope to go to the library in the week to start on book number one. Maybe I can blog about these books over the coming weeks if time allows. For the time being though, I hope everyone who reads this, reads Ken Robinson's books and check him out on Twitter!

School Gardens, Thunder Bay: After school programs meet urban agriculture

2011-07-16T20:51:00.000-04:00

School Gardens, Thunder Bay: After school programs meet urban agriculture: "Peak Johnson: Afterschool Program Grows Food, Connections A novel after school program that teaches children about urban agriculture and fa..."

Danielle Nierenberg: World Population Day: Agriculture Offers Huge Opportunities for a Planet of 7 Billion

2011-07-16T20:22:00.000-04:00

Danielle Nierenberg: World Population Day: Agriculture Offers Huge Opportunities for a Planet of 7 Billion

Interesting article on how agriculture can help feed the growing population of the world. Lets start with some school gardens!

Setting up and running a school garden

2011-07-14T21:28:00.000-04:00

Good website about setting up a school garden. Its an important step in helping children learn about more than the traditional curriculum. When children leave school, they should have life skills that include learning about healthy foods. By creating a garden, school can help children learn about foods, community and increase test scores. Take a look through the blog and you'll see more information about school gardens that I've posted over the last few months

Setting up and running a school garden

Manitoban school garden information

2011-07-08T08:11:00.000-04:00

more school garden websites!

http://careerportfolio.mb.ca/view/view.php?id=350

Interesting website about school gardens, including podcasts, videos and other useful information when creating your school garden

School Gardening Video from CTV!

2011-06-26T20:05:00.000-04:00

I had to add this to the blog. This is just awesome information and advocacy for school gardening.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/CanadaAMColumns/20110622/cullen-blog-110622/

Take Me Outside Project

2011-06-20T20:58:00.000-04:00

Day 154 – 39.7 km (total – 3254.2 km)

The Take Me Outside Project is nearing Northern Ontario. If a school can host them for a visit to talk to the children about getting outside, please let Colin know.

Social Networking...

2011-06-19T10:28:00.001-04:00

I posed a question on Twitter yesterday and wanted to further explain what I was trying to say. I was with my social work professors during the week and was posed the question whether or not you can teach a student to network. I don't mean networking as in making a computer network, but to learn how to talk with other people, to social network?

I don't know if this is actually a quantifiable skill that can be taught. I believe this comes from experience of being with others and talking with others. Its a life skill that maybe has been lost over the years. Citizens don't seem to like interacting with each other or their environment anymore. People seem to have lost that sense of caring that used to be evident in neighborhoods where every adult would be responsible to watching out for the young in the area. I remember being able to go out and play without adult supervision for hours, if not all day. Nowadays parents are all watching over their children for fears and safety concerns.

If networking is a skill be taught in social work class, how can this come to be? During my placement, I've talked to many people about school gardens. I've met many people over the last 6 months and enjoyed interacting with like-minded people to help implement school gardens in the schools of Thunder Bay. I think one of the reasons I've enjoyed this so much is because I actually like people and like talking with people. This is definitely an asset when it comes to macro based community practice. Many social work students go into the profession it seems because of their micro skills. Can these be used in macros based practice too? Is it so difficult to interact with the larger community to discover assets and gifts to help people in the larger neighbourhood before clinical counselling and micro skills are needed?

Here's some more of my thoughts on social networking skills. Why is it that many people just don't seem to care anymore? Why do we stand behind our curtains and watch our neighbours but don't join in? To greet each other? and how can we change that? How can our younger students learn how to interact in the community?

Congratulations...

2011-06-18T21:00:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to say Congratulations to St Bernards school in Thunder Bay for starting their school garden over the last couple of weeks. I'm only too sorry that I have moved away and haven't seen the wonders of this new garden. Its a first for a Catholic School in Thunder Bay and to be highly celebrated. I hope all works out over the summer and the kids get to sample their hard work in the Fall!

moving...

2011-06-13T13:14:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to say Thank You for all your support over the last 6 months. I am in the process of moving this week and wont be updating the blog for a couple of weeks.

Sustainability of school gardens

2011-06-09T11:13:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to post a few ideas I've been thinking about regarding school garden sustainability and eating local. The movement to create school gardens appears to be gaining in momentum, but there is always the question,"what about the summer holidays" or,"Teachers already have too much to do" or.,"It always falls to the teachers" How can these questions be addressed in order to make school gardens a reality for students, who benefit so much from the opportunities.

I believe that if there was policy at the school boards, all school could eventually deliver on this form of outdoors education. School boards that have a policy of implementation, could mean that there would be money available for training and creation of the school gardens. Teachers may need training in gardening and curriculum delivery in the gardens. There are so many curriculum ideas on the internet, much of which is free. Many schools in California seem to have school gardens, why can't this be the case in Ontario and Nova Scotia is prepared to give each school in the province $500 towards the creation of school gardens. It just doesn't seem to be on the radar screen of the current government in my province.

I know of teachers who are willing and able to make gardens, but without the support of the school boards and administration, it appears a daunting task. Creating and sustaining a garden is more than just the job of the teachers and administration though. Community members can and do get involved with sustaining school gardens. If we look at how many gifts many community members may have, we might be amazed at how many people could actually help in providing assistance and curriculum ideas to teachers. Local knowledge is often the best knowledge and there may be some master gardeners in the neighbourhood that you never knew about. Local elders may know even more about the local environment and be able to help with lesson ideas and support for teachers. I have learned that you never know until you ask and ask away, you never know what you might find out and if you don't ask, you'll never know!!!

Local community groups may also be in a position to help sustain a garden. There are certainly many schools with after school programs or even summer camps, that can go out into the garden for science adventures or art classes. If there are summer programs, you might be able to entice even more people with the possibility of free, organic produce with work in the garden. I've even heard of schools offering summer picnics or parties in exchange for summer work in a garden.

These are just some of my ideas and ideas I have borrowed from others. Its amazing what you can find out when you network and talk with each other. We need to create that possibility of exchange and learn from each other. Local produce, in my mind is often the best and helping schools create gardens that give that possibility to children is a wonderful opportunity. We need to recreate a local and more sustainable food system for the future of our amazing world. School gardens are just the start...

Reflections on a journey around the north shore.

2011-06-07T21:15:00.000-04:00

The North Shore of Lake Superior.

Today I am travelling from Thunder Bay to Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. The journey by car takes about 8 hours, give or take moose or bear encounters and the breath taking scenery that is the North Shore of the World’s largest lake.

The scenery is indeed breathtaking. I have travelled this road many times and I am always amazed by its constant beauty. The road gently travels up and down over high ground to the low ground along the shore of the lake, back into the hills again. The forest seems to go on forever. Around every corner, hill and vista there is something different and new to see, depending on the season and time of day.

I have great respect for the pioneers who first settled this part of Canada and for the First Nation’s people who have lived here for many thousands of years. Recently I spent the day at the Fort William Historical Park in the city of Thunder Bay and learned about those settlers and how they traded with the First Nations people, who taught them how to use canoes and brought them into the interior to trap furs to send back to Europe. It’s a fascinating place to learn about local history and lore of Ontario’s great North.

Living in the north is an awe inspiring journey. It means living with extreme seasons of frigid weather in the winter and heat and thunder storms in the summer. Every day is a bit different from the next. The north shore reflects these seasonal extremes in the way that snow can stick around till June and frosts can reappear in August. Gardening can be a constant challenge. Local knowledge and information for this can mean success or failure.

Encountering moose and other animals is a constant possibility along the highway that hugs the lakeshore. On occasions, I have seen many animals, close to the road, giving people an amazing and close up view of what animals inhabit this part of the country. Moose encounters are often and can lead to serious accidents if one is not on the lookout. Other times I have done this journey and not seen anything. Again, it generally depends on the season. Possible to see, are moose, bear, deer, lynx, wolves and of course many majestic birds of prey.

Beaver have also shaped the land. Every corner seems to have a new lake or creek feeding a larger lake. I’ve written a little before about systems. I’m reading a wonderful book at present called Ecological Literacy, educating our children for a sustainable world. This book talks about how we can educating our children based on systems thinking and teaching them how sustainability is important in their lives. Creating gardens in the schools can help spark that creative thinking whereby children can begin this new journey and new way of thinking that can profoundly impact their lives, much like the beaver has impacted the landscape of the north.

The eastern side of Lake Superior is a wonderful place if you enjoy beaches. There are some fabulous, sandy beaches, mixed in to the lakes, rocks and trees that make up the scenery of northern Ontario. I particularly like the beach at Pancake Bay. Its long and sandy, enough to entice any beach lover. I’m not sure about whether or not I would like to swim in the frigid waters of the lake however. I know about the ice that covers the lake in the wintertime. I doubt the water can warm up that much in the short summer season.

Finally we arrived at Sault ste Marie. We only saw a dead moose this time, a casualty of a traffic accident, reminds us all of the wildlife that live along the highway. The scenery was as usual breathtaking. I would totally recommend the trip to anyone who has never been. The highway from Thunder Bay to Sault Ste Marie has to be one of the world’s most spectacular drives.

Community Service Learning experiences

2011-05-31T12:05:00.002-04:00

Community Service Learning.

What is Community Service Learning? The Canadian Alliance for Community Service Learning states that CSL is where,” Students, educators, and communities build partnerships to learn from each other while working together to strengthen individuals, communities, and society”

It is a form of pedagogy that involves students and community partners, usually connected to a course. Some universities have CSL programs, others do not. I was lucky to be at Lakehead University which offers CSL opportunities as part of its degree courses.

Part of the CSL experience is learning about the changing world of work. It is about learning about complexity in this world and how the world is constantly changing and shifting. There is no more certainty in the world of work anymore. Things change, people seem to have multiple careers and CSL is about learning how to adapt in this changing world.

So if CSL has been about learning about the changing world of work, how has this impacted my placement? I began this blog and my placement whilst completing a social work degree at Lakehead University. I was lucky enough to begin work with Dr Connie Nelson and the Food Security Research Network at the university to learn about how school gardens can have a place in schools in the city. There is a growing movement of school gardens across North America and it has been exciting to see the impact of this in schools. Some gardens are teacher led, others are led by parents, all with the desire to include gardens as part of a wider curriculum on environmental, experiential and placed-based education.

The Food Security Research Network has been part of many projects in our city. Recently I wrote about poultry farming in Thunder Bay and how the students of Lakehead and the FSRN had begun a project to see how viable a poultry abattoir would be in the city. Other students have been working on community gardens or therapeutic gardens and youth. The FSRN has also produced a short film about local food initiatives in the area. For information about this and other projects, please see ,http://www.foodsecurityresearch.ca/

I started this project with a little knowledge from my previous courses on social work theory and have ended my degree learning about education, science, new theories, environmental studies and much more. I can’t extoll the wonders of community service learning enough. The biggest thing I can take from this experience I think is how little deeds can grow into bigger things, much like the pay it forward idea. Children benefit so much from gardening and learning about gardening and how wonderful that it might be included into curriculum of schools.

From my work over the last 6 months, I hope that there is the start of a network of school gardens in the city of Thunder Bay that can each support and help each other, whilst advocating for new school gardens in other schools. This network might be about a sharing of knowledge and support, which can sustain each other and new schools in this endeavour.

Eat Local Article

2011-05-31T10:58:00.000-04:00

Eat Local

Whilst sitting in a coffee shop waiting for my car to be fixed one day, I picked up a copy of a local paper, produced right here in Thunder Bay. The paper is called,” The Walleye” A wonderful paper full of ideas, reviews, cultural topics and more. This month, the front page had a chicken on it. The headline read, “Spring Chicken, Thunder Bay’s Black Market Poultry” I had to pick it up and read more.

I love the idea of eating local. Growing up, I learned how to grow vegetables with my grandmother and parents. I’ve read the, ”Hundred Mile Diet” and enjoyed “Animal Vegetable Mineral” and I have brought my children to the farmers market faithfully nearly every week since they were born.

We have been able to purchase local beef and pork in the city for some years and now I try not to purchase any meat from the supermarkets. The meat scares of recent years and reading the above mentioned books have made me realise just how meat is raised on huge commercial farms and I know they deserve better. Being able to purchase local chicken though has been somewhat of impossibility.

The article notes that it is illegal to sell farm raised poultry in the Thunder Bay area as there is no licensed poultry abattoir in the area. Farmers do raise and sell chicken, but it is done strictly on the, ”Black Market” . Like many things in this area, its not what you know, its who you know and if you want the local chicken badly enough, it isn’t that difficult to find out where you can buy it.

But these farmers do so at a price of being found out. The first infractions can cost them hefty fines of up to $25000. The Food Security Research Network in the city has been trying to work with local partners to try and find a solution to this. They discovered that there is an increasing demand for locally produced birds and the people are willing to pay for local birds if such an abattoir existed.

This is exciting news for both consumer and farmers alike. Hopefully soon someone will seize the opportunity to open a sustainable business like a poultry abattoir and support local farmers and the people alike. Farmers already producing such poultry will finally be able to come out of hiding and no longer have to jeopardize their farms and business anymore.

School Garden websites

2011-05-26T13:52:00.000-04:00

I love patrolling the internet looking for information on school gardens. There are so many exciting projects out there from all over the world. I've been thinking about the importance of sharing information with others on school garden projects. Schools could make blogs or create websites based on their gardening experiences that can help others in their journeys to create gardens for their own students.Photographs and information about what works and doesn't work in their area are a wonderful way to assist others.

Learning from other schools is an exciting way that new schools can join in this movement for change in education that is occurring across the world.

gardening clubs

2011-05-26T13:45:00.000-04:00

New school garden opened at St Aidan’s primary school - News - Tottenham Journal

A short article on a new garden at a school in the UK. The idea of having a lunchtime gardening club seems a good idea to me. It enables the children to work on the garden in their free time and perhaps use harvested vegetables and fruits as part of their healthy lunch